To think you are not skint on £70k, even in Central London??

[LottaLou]

Just had a ridiculous conversation with a friend who lives and works in Central London. She is in digital marketing, which is a field where salaries can vary significantly, so until now I had no idea what kind of salary she might be on. She is single and childfree, so no dependants.

She always complains that she does not have enough money to do this and do that, how skint she is at the end of the month, they should pay her more for her job and so on. I usually listen to her and sympathize, as I have had money problems in the past, and I know how tough it can be.

Well today she (accidentally) revealed to me that she is on bloody £70k, which is more than twice my salary!! I am stunned as I genuiney thought she was on some "barely above NMW" money, given how often she complains about being skint!

I love her dearly and I will always be her friend, but AIBU to tell her to STFU the next time she starts complaining about being skint?

DerelictWreck Thanks but the OP is probably not in the position to buy & that’s the problem for many.

Obviously I haven't always owned though. Rented up until about 10 months ago and still managed just fine on £35k - £70k would have seen me living like a king!

I grew up in Central London (Pimlico) on a housing estate. I never had travel costs as I was well schooled on the street on how to bunk the tube and jump ticket barriers.
(Slightly moot point adding nothing of value to thread)

I think things get people's backs up because yes, technically, you can be skint on any income. But not the type of 'skint' that means you can't afford basic nice things, etc. The type of skint that is a reality of bad financially, not cutting your cloth accordingly or excessive extra spends. Perhaps all three.

I have a friend who is always claiming to be skint. And she is. She's really being careful with money. But she's also putting £500 a month away for a mortgage, so it's all relevant

I don’t think £200k salary is anything like £32k school fees territory (which would be boarding at a top school)

£32k per year, or £8k per term for boarding is probably below average for an independent senior school. Schools around here charge more than £10k per term, in the South West.

Oops, sorry, my maths is rubbish tonight, £32k is obviously more than £10k a term

You can’t be skint on 70k regardless of where you live . Crap with money yes but not skint . And the higher outgoings malarkey is a load of tosh .

I'm struggling to see why a person earning 200k would definitely not be in the "territory" of paying 32k school fees for 1 child.
That strikes me as a weird comment. 200k per annum puts you in the top percentage of earners in the country. Of course you could bloody afford it if you wanted to.

I simply said of the people I associate with in that salary bracket it’s nothing like a consideration. You’d need to use say £60K of your £200k to have the £32k after tax so it’s a considerable proportion of your salary

A pal earning about 60k in London was similar... Was paying less than 600 mortgage per month too. Kept moaning how skinny they were but always had Shellac nails and went abroad on holiday 5/6 times a year. Got a major pay rise and then moaned how most of it went on tax. Compared to us (family of 4 on 60k living in v expensive area with high childcare and travel costs) she's minted, but so many of her friends are millionaires etc she feels "poor".

DerelictWreck How did you manage to save up the deposit (if not too nosy to ask)

@ILostItInTheEarlyNineties

My pay after tax is around £250000 a year. I won't pay private school fees. I want to maintain my lifestyle when I retire, and i want to retire early and pay for any care I might need, so a big chunk goes to pensions and savings. Then there's the savings for my kids so they get a big lump sum after high school. Then there's giving my kids experiences and just living expenses.
We have great schools nearby, so I would struggle to pay private fees for both without making changes and even then... paying £64000 a term, or even a year, is simply not achievable.

People just make choices. Lots of people on less than £250k pay private schools fees which can be £10k or £12k a year for day schools in Yorkshire for example. Even here in outer London it's only about £18k per child.

£70k a year is about £4k a month after tax but if you also pay 9% student loan tax then that's a fair chunk to remove too.

£200k a year is about £10k a month (less student loan repayment if any). full time childcare might be £2k a month and school fees once you move to that state obviousy more depending on if more than one child./ Rent might be £1400 a month. £200k leaves a fair bit for rent and school fees/full time childcare costs. £70k less so.

You can qualify for a bursary discount if you earn 80k in some London private schools these days.

Well blow me. I'm staggered that someone earning 200k says they can't afford to put 1 child through private schooling (if they wanted to) and lots of people are nodding and agreeing.
What sort of private school is this that is out of the reach of top earning parents?

£82 K doesn't go far in the Home Counties....

Waits for thread to go in an entirely different direction.

Actually now that mortgage is a lot less it is a lot easier.

But I was just feeing devillish.

I could do it, if I gave up saving so much or if I gave up putting to much aside for my kids to have when they leave school.

But we have amazing state schools nearby, so it's not a priority. If we had crap schools, then it would be the priority and is sacrifice the savings.

Do you realise that a lot of people earning a big wage don't bother saving much; I'd rather have savings and see my kids go to a great local school than have no savings and see them in a slightly better private school. They get private music and language lessons outside school hours, so all bases covered

I think most could afford private school for 2 on 200k particularly if you didn’t bother with prep & saved the difference. I don’t think you could do it on 100k unless you had a teeny mortgage & made lots of sacrifices.

"State til eight, darling, state til eight"

in a city where the cinema and popcorn is about £20!); paid for train fare home to see family; bought birthday presents; saved for a holiday - it's v easy to FEEL skint

Have to pick up on this - absolute rubbish. You are not skint if you can comfortably afford all the above and in a climate where food banks are needed for some working people with children absolutely insulting to claim you 'feel' skint. I hope you never actually do experience what being 'skint' actually entails.

Right so more personal choice rather than not an option with regards to private school. The price of a private education is making my eyes water to be honest. how do they justify those prices

It's all relative
Well yes, look at our dear Queen- £70 million in income from her cut of the crown estate and her government grant and struggling to pay the refurb on Buckingham Palace poor woman.

Of course will depend on her outgoings

You can certainly live comfortably on that wage but no doubt some will say you can’t

Agree that housing costs aside, London can be cheaper than other places if you know what you're doing - lots of competition wrt eating out, nice clothing shops that properly discount towards the end of the season, lots of free cultural stuff and if people know you like certain things then they'll put tickets your way.

The private schools discussion is making me laugh though - usually any chat about private schools is full of bellends claiming that kids from ordinary backgrounds go to them and it's just that their parents are good with money - completely ignoring the fact that even the cheapest school costs a year's minimum wage in fees alone. 😁

Tiddlie - if you've rtft you should see that you've missed my point, so in fact you haven't picked up on anything, sorry!

You can easily feel skint as £70k after tax is comfortable, but it's not rich, and it doesn't go all that far if you're paying a lot in rent/trying to keep up with friends/colleagues/going out a lot because you're single.

But you're not skint. Far from it. You're making choices to spend all your money and that's a v different thing, which the OP's friend has failed utterly to grasp. That was my point.

On 70k, half of your take home pay would go on rent for a studio or 1 bed flat even in somewhere a bit slummy like Shoreditch or Old St.. let alone thinking about tolerable like Kensington or Mayfair. So yes YABU.